People without face masks are seen at Times Square during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in New York City, U.S., March 11, 2021. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

Traffic moves as water is pumped out of an inundated residential area following torrential rains in Bengaluru, India on September 7, 2022. (Photo by Samuel Rajkumar/Reuters)

Honorable Mention: “The Storm”. During I was taking photo with my nephew, the storm came and I caught this beautiful moment. Photo location: Kocaeli, Turkey. (Photo and caption by Aytül Akbaş/National Geographic Photo Contest)

People take part in a gay pride parade in Warsaw, Poland, on Saturday, June 8, 2019. The Equality Parade is the largest gay pride parade in central and Eastern Europe. It brought thousands of people to the streets of Warsaw at a time when the LGBT rights movement in Poland is targeted by hate speeches and a government campaign depicting it as a threat to families and society. (Photo by Czarek Sokolowski/AP Photo)

A wave carrying plastic waste and other rubbish washes up on a beach in Koh Samui in the Gulf of Thailand on January 19, 2021. (Photo by Mladen Antonov/AFP Photo)

An Oktoberfest visitor swings her dirndl, at the start of Oktoberfest, on Munich's Theresienwiese, in Germany, Saturday, September 20, 2025. (Photo by Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa via AP Photo)

Japan fans pose for a photo outside the ground ahead of the Rugby World Cup 2023, Pool D match at the Stade De Nice, France on Sunday, September 17, 2023. (Photo by Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images)

Team Kazakhstan throw Zhaklin Yakimova of Kazakhstan into the air while they perform their routine in the Mixed Team Acrobatic during the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup 2024 - Stop 2 at Aquatics Centre on May 05, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images)